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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26817157">Widowed</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkPaperStars/pseuds/PinkPaperStars'>PinkPaperStars</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>IronWatts Week [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Explosion, IronWatts Week, M/M, Mentions of Death, Paladin Incident, building destruction, tw blood, tw gore</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:42:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,470</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26817157</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkPaperStars/pseuds/PinkPaperStars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>October 4th: School days / Paladin incident</p>
<p>" “I’m going to be fine James, Don’t worry,” Arthur smiled at him. James didn’t come down to say goodbye to everyone who left on away missions. Arthur was special. Arthur was his husband. His bag was at his feet, and he was pulling on his jacket. "</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Ironwood/Arthur Watts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>IronWatts Week [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1955929</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Widowed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>IronWatts Week! IronWatts gives me angsty feelings and I love it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’m going to be fine James, Don’t worry,” Arthur smiled at him. James didn’t come down to say goodbye to everyone who left on away missions. Arthur was special. Arthur was his husband. His bag was at his feet, and he was pulling on his jacket. </p>
<p>The facility that Arthur was going to be at was heated, but the airship out could be cold. James had made sure he wrapped Arthur up in his warmest coat. </p>
<p>Things were tense between them the last few weeks. Arthur had technically made the original designs for the Paladins. And while the machines had been impressive, it wasn’t quite the direction the military was looking to go. The weapons team had made several modifications, making them a piloted machine instead of a remotely controlled weapon. </p>
<p>Arthur had been angry, it had been his designs. And James was getting the credit for all his hard work. Because he was the one that changed the direction of the project. At first Arthur had been mad when James had assigned him to the project team, to help with the programming. And Arthur had kicked him out of the bedroom for the last several days.</p>
<p>James wanted to make things right before he left. So He’d made Arthur breakfast and walked him down to the hangar. Arthur’s anger seemed to have subsided, he let James carry his bag and hold his hand as they walked down. They made small talk about work. And Arthur reminded him with left overs needed to be eaten first in the fridge. </p>
<p>“Are we okay?” James had asked when he helped Arthur pull his jacket. Arthur had a great poker face, it was hard to read his face. Arthur pulled up the zipper on his jacket. Arthur blinked softly at James. </p>
<p>“We are,” Arthur nodded slightly at James. “I’m done. I’m done fighting. Okay?” </p>
<p>“That doesn’t sound good,” James frowned a bit. He took Arthur’s hand softly, pulling them towards him. He took a step into Arthur. </p>
<p>“No, I don’t mean it like that. I just, I don’t want to fight anymore,” Arthur blinked at him softly. He looked a bit defeated. “I’m sorry I got so upset,” He leaned in and kissed James softly. It didn’t feel right to James. It didn’t feel like things were okay. It felt like things were hanging on by a thread that neither of them were read to cut just yet. But James wasn’t sure how much longer that thread was going to hang on. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry. I thought you’d enjoy getting to still work on this project. Would you rather stay?” James asked, running his thumb over Arthur’s cheek. “You don’t have to go, if you don’t want to,” </p>
<p>“No. It’ll be good to go. It’ll get me out of medical for a while. I think it’s been stressing me out a bit too much,” Arthur replied. He reached up to cover James’ hand with his. He leaned against James’ touch. </p>
<p>“You don’t have to go work. You can take some time off. I can take some time off. We can take some to work on us,” James offered. They normally weren’t fans of public displays of affections. But if Arthur went, then it would be at least two months before they saw each other again. It felt like if Arthur left, then this could be the end. It felt like more than just Arthur leaving for work for a little while. </p>
<p>“I should go. Some space wouldn’t be the worst. And I need to focus on something else for a bit,” Arthur sighed a bit. He did step in and kiss James softly. “I’ll call you. Often. Alright?” </p>
<p>It felt off. James couldn’t put his finger on it. </p>
<p>They had been together for nearly fourteen years. Arthur was in medical school when they met. He wasn’t scared of James being young and so accomplished. Because Arthur was also young and accomplished. It had been an instant attraction. James spent much of his free time trying to distract Arthur by making out with him. </p>
<p>When Arthur was a surgical resident they had gotten married. They had been together since Arthur was twenty one, and James was twenty three. And Arthur was thirty five now. Fourteen years was a long time. They had been married for ten years. </p>
<p>They loved each other. But was that enough? When they were butting heads in work? When they were getting stressed out with each other, and things didn’t feel like they were being solved. Problems were just being swept under the rug and ignored by both of them. </p>
<p>“Alright. Call me, please,” Arthur nodded and kissed James again. “I love you,” </p>
<p>“I love you too,” James kissed him again. Logically, James knew that space could be good for a couple at times. But this didn’t feel good. His heart and his stomach felt heavy. </p>
<p>“Be safe,” </p>
<p>“I will,”</p>
<p>-- </p>
<p>It was about a month since Arthur had left. They spoke on the phone nearly every night. And Arthur had still seemed off, the first few days he was away. Adjusting, he said. It had been a while since he worked in a lab. </p>
<p>After a few days he did seem to perk up a bit. He seemed to be enjoying the challenge of work. It was nice to hear him sound happier. James was happy, maybe things were good. Maybe things were going to be alright. Maybe the space was going to be good for them and when Arthur got back they could talk about things. </p>
<p>And then he heard about the accident. It came in as an urgent call. There had been an explosion at the Paladin facility.</p>
<p>He was up and out of his office. He wasn’t waiting. If he had been thinking properly, then he would have remembered, he had duties to attend to. Headmaster duties, and Major General duties. He didn’t ask permission to go, he was heading out on the next transport. </p>
<p>It was a tense trip. He listened to the open coms, listening for news. It wasn’t good news, from what he heard. There were Grimm, and a lot of wreckage. </p>
<p>Landing was a horror show. The building was on fire, and huntsmen and soldiers immediately got to work driving off the Grimm. Other soldiers were working on putting out the fires and trying to rescue whoever they could. </p>
<p>There was a pit in his stomach. And all he wanted to do was search for Arthur. But he had a job to do. </p>
<p>It was nearly an hour, before he got a moment to get to tirage and the medical team. </p>
<p>“Arthur Watts? Has anyone found Arthur Watts?” He asked. There had not been a sign of him yet. But they promised, when they found him, they would alert James immediately. One Hour turned to two, two turned to several.</p>
<p>The fires were put out. And the Grimm were driven off. People were accounted for, alive and dead. There were bodies, and not all of them were intact. </p>
<p>It was days, before James was ordered back to Atlas, and to stand down for the time being. He couldn’t eat, he could sleep. All he could do was sit and wait for news about his husband. Each day, each hour, was worse and worse. The pit in his stomach grew, and slowly, the hope he had that Arthur was going to come home alive, slowly became hope that he was just going to have something to bury. </p>
<p>It was eleven days, before a knock came at his door. He didn’t want to answer the door at first. Because as long as he didn’t answer the door, there was a chance. A chance that there was good news, and that he wasn’t going to be a thirty seven year old widower. </p>
<p>But he opened the door. </p>
<p>“Hello,  Major-General, can I come in?” Winter Schnee asked. James let her into the apartment. When she asked him to sit down, James knew it was bad. But he took a seat at the kitchen table. Winter was silent for a few moments, before she handed the box she was holding to him. James took it silently, and held it in his hands. He didn’t want to look. </p>
<p>“They found this, this morning. They haven’t finished the search yet, but,” There was a tightness to her voice. “But they found it near the center of the explosion. I’m so sorry Major General,” </p>
<p>James clenched his jaw and opened the box. There was Arthur’s wedding ring, with a bit of blood on it. A fine mist of blood. He didn’t hear what else she had said. Everything felt like it was moving in a fog. James didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know what to feel. He just felt,</p>
<p>Numb.</p>
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